Portable rig mast and substructure



Janl 26, 1960 J. H. WILSON 2,922,501

PORTABLE RIG MAST AND SUBSTRUCTURE Filed Oct. 5. 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 John Hart Wilson- 16 6g 22 Inventor Jan. 26, 1960 J. H. WILSON 2,922,501

PORTABLE RIG MAST AND SUBSTRUCTURE Filed Oct. '5. 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 E1 I 'i a: a; '4 2'-\ II I M..-

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Inventor John Hurt Wilson PORTABLE RIG MAST AND SUBSTRUCTURE John Hart Wilson, Wichita Falls, Tex.

Application October 5, 1954, Serial No. 460,441

3 Claims. (Ci. 189-11) This invention relates to improvements in drilling rig structure, and more particularly to a drilling rig wherein the rig proper is mounted on a vehicle for transportation over the highways, and wherein the sub-structure therefor is so designed as to provide a ramp upon which the rig may be rolled so as to enable the rig to be elevated above the level of the ground sufficiently to permit easy access to the well connections and to the casing head, which are usually positioned beneath the sub-structure.

Heretofore it has required considerable time and effort to elevate the draw works, mast, and other mechanism incident to a well drilling apparatus to a height sufiicient to enable the casing head and other connections to be made below the floor of the derrick.

An object of this invention is to provide a rig structure comprising a vehicle on which the rig is mounted, the mast super-structure and the mast floor of which are so constructed as to be readily disassembled and moved from one location to another and reassembled in a minimum of time and with a minimum of assembly work.

Another object of this invention is to provide a substructure for a drilling rig wherein the sub-structure may be collapsed so as to enable the structure to be of such width as to be readily transported over the highways, but when on location, may be expanded transversely to give a wider footing to form ramps upon which the rig may be easily elevated, without the necessity of using a crane or the like.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a rig wherein the super-structure or mast is effectually guyed to the sub-structure and to the structure of the drilling rig or to the trailer on which it is mounted, so as to prevent transverse movement of the mast or superstructure, so that the mast, which is supported on one side of the wall, is restrained from falling by means of guy wires attached to the draw works and/ or the frame of the trailer, which trailer frame, in turn, is fastened to the sub-structure, the front end of which sub-structure extends substantially beyond the center of the well on the side opposite the rig, so that the entire structure becomes a self guyed unit without the necessity of any guy wires to the ground.

With these objects in mind and others that will manifest themselves as the description proceeds, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate like parts in the several views thereof, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a drilling rig with parts broken away and shortened, and with parts shown in dot-dash outline, to bring out the details of construction;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the mast and substructure, showing the mast in extended position and with parts broken away and shortened to show the details of construction;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of a portion of the sub-structure;

States Patent F 2,922,501 Patented Jan. 26, 1960 Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a portion of the sub-structure elements spread apart show ing the intermediate bracing therefor;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged front elevational view of the substructure in collapsed condition, ready for transportation; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary elevational view of the folded ramp, with the extended position shown in dot-dash outline.

With more detailed reference to the drawing the numeral 1 designates the sub-structure generally, which comprises portions 2 and 4. The portions 2 and 4 may be separated, as shown in Fig. 3, so that the ramp members 6 and 8 are spaced apart to receive the wheels 10 of the trailer, designated generally by the numeral 12.

The super-structure 1 comprises rig floor sills 14 and rig floor 15, and pipe racking floor 15a, which are elevated or positioned above the sub-structure sill members 16 a sufficient distance to provide space for valves, flow pipes, blow out preventers and the like between sill members 14 and 16. Sill members 18 and 20 are provided at the upper ends of the ramps 6 and 8,'respectively, and have support standards 22 thereunder so as to form a level surface to support the wheels 10 of the trailer.

The trailer frame, on which the engines and the draw works are mounted, is preferably of the goose-neck type, the goose-neck 12a being at the forward end of the trailer frame. The upper section of the mast is open on the side opposite the forward end of the trailer frame, which open side is considered as the front of the mast and will be so referred to.

The trailer 12 has its forward end supported by jacks 24 and 26, so that the jacks may be adjusted to make the frame of the trailer substantially level. A mast or super-structure 30 is pivotally mounted at 32 on upright standards 34 and 35 so it may be raised ,to the position as shown in full outline in Figs. 1 and 2, or telescoped and lowered into a horizontal position, as indicated in dot-dash outline in Fig. 1. A multiple cylinder jack, generally designated by the numeral 36, is pivotally mounted on the frame 28 and to the rear face of the mast 30, so upon application of hydraulic pressure, the jack will extend to the position as shown in full outline in Fig, 1, or it may be retracted to the position as shown in dot-dash outline in Fig. 1, with the mast lowered into horizontal position.

The lower portion 38 of the mast 31B is secured to the upper portion thereof by means of bolts 40 which enables the upper portion 30 of the mast to be hinged to move the mast into a horizontal position, yet maintain the lower portion in an upright position. An adjustable turnbuckle 42 is provided intermediate standards 35 and the lower portion 38 of the mast. This will enable the inclination or batter of the mast to be readily adjusted, so as to center the traveling block over the well. The line of travel of the traveling block is indicated by the dot-dash line 42. The lower end of the mast has a screw jack 44 therein, which engages a footing 46, so as to further enable the correct positioning of the face of the mast with respect to the well.

Outrigger arms 48 are pivotally mounted intermediate the mast floor sills l4 and the base sills 16 and which outrigger arms swing outward, as indicated in Fig. 2, when the mast is ready for drilling operation, and to swing into position as indicated in dotdash outline in Fig. 1, when it is desired to transport the sub-structure from place to place.

Each of the inclined ramps 6 and 8 is composed of two sections which are hinged together by the respective hinge pins 6a and 8a, which pins are transversely disposed near the top thereof so the lower ends of the respective ramps 6b and 8b will hinge about the respective pins 6a and 8a so the respective ramps will fold into the position as indicated in Fig. 6. In this manner the ramps are materially shortened for moving the device from place to place, but may be extended, when desired, to erect the sub-structure. A lock pin 60 is provided in lug 6d.

The usual draw works 50 and power plant 52 are mounted on the trailer frame 28, and are movable on the trailer while in place. Guy wires 54, 56, 60 and 62 are provided for guying the back, front and the respective sides of the mast, so as to prevent movement of the mast in any direction, while in operating position. A

tension rod 64 is provided intermediate the front end of sills 28 of the trailer frame and the rear end portions of. the ramps, and with the jacks 24 interposed between the upper face of the sills l6 and the lower face of the sills 28, any forward pull by guy wires 54 and 56, which are anchored to the rear end of the frame of the trailer 12, will be transmitted through tension rods 64 to the base or sub-structure 1.

The mast is provided with a crown block 66 wherein the cables pass over sheaves thereof, which sheaves are each encased within a casing. The cables are threaded over the respective sheaves and through the crown block, and through the traveling block, so that the traveling block, as shown, will hang with the axis of the sheaves thereof perpendicular to the front of the mast.

A racking platform 68 is hingeably mounted a spaced distance above the floor 14 of the mast and is supported by guy wires 57, as will best be seen in Fig. 1. A walkway 76 is pivotally mounted on the outer side of the working floor 15 and may be folded outward, as indicated in Fig. 2, when the mast is ready for operation, and which may be folded inward, as indicated in Fig. 5, when the sub-structure is ready for transportation.

When the members 2 and 4 are spaced apart, the racking floor member 15a is lowered into place, so as to seat withinshouldered recesses 72, as will best been seen in Figs. 2 and S, and when spread apart, a brace 74 is secured between upright standards 76 and 78, as will best be seen in Fig. 4.

Operation By having a structure of the character described, that is, with the sub-structure, generally designated at l, spread apart, as indicated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the trailer l2 may be moved up the ramp 6 until the wheels come to rest on sills 18, whereupon, the frame 28 may be leveled by means of jacks 24, 25, and 26, and tension rods 64 secured between the forward ends of the sills 28 and the lower end of the ramps, and with the jacks 24 interposed between the sills 16 and the trailer sills 28, the device is ready to erect the mast. The lower portion 35 which rests on footing 46, is adjusted by means of fully extended. Then the guy lines 54, 56, 57, 58, iii),

and 62 are tightened so as to maintain the mast in rigid upright position. It will be appreciated that the placing of the sub-structure and the spreading apart thereof, from the position as shown in Fig. 5, to that shown in Figs. 2 and 3, ready to receive the trailer h, all of which can be done in a minimum of time. By moving the trailer 12 upward along the ramps 6 into the position, as shown in Fig. l, the entire drilling rig can be set up in a minimum of time, which process, hereto-fore, required several hours or several days.

With the mast erected in place, as described above, the drilling operation may be started immediately,as it is not necessary to remove the traveling block and cables from the mast while it is being moved from place to place. Furthermore, it is to be pointed out that the substructure, designated by the numeral 1, may be collapsed together, as shown in Fig. 5, to present a narrow structure for movement over the road, after the racking floor member 15a has been removed from recessed notches 72.

By utilizing this form of sub-structure, and by positioning the draw works 50 approximately twice the distance rearward of the mast, as the distance between the front legs and the center of the well, the pull on the traveling block line will be such as to tend to pull the top of the mast rearward, thereby taking substantial strain from the guy wires 54-56.

It is also to be pointed out that the guy wires 54, 56, 57, 58, 60, and 62 are anchored to the frame or substructure, thereby eliminating the digging of dead man holes, the driving of stakes, or guying to some object remote from the well, and yet providing a dependable, substantial guying method which may be used .on any type of land. 7

While the device has been illustrated and described in one embodiment thereof, it is to be understood that changes may be made in the minor details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims. v

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is: 1. In a mast structure, a lower supporting section hingably connected to a vehicle supported ring structure so as to be in upright position, an intermediate section hinged on a common hinge axis with the lower hinged supporting section, an upper section telescopically fitted within said intermediate section for longitudinal movement with respect thereto, the upper .end of said lower supporting section of said mast being substantially rectangular in cross section and having an upright leg on each corner thereof, said intermediate section having a complementary cross section with the upper end of said lower supporting section, and having a leg on each corner thereof, which legs are adapted to be in substantially abutting, end to end relation with respect to the legs of said lower supporting section when said intermediate section is in upright position, the legs of said intermediate section remote from said common hinge axis being in end to end aligned relation with the respective legs of said lower supporting section most remote from said common hinge axis, said upper section of said mast having a leg on each corner thereof, the outermost of said legs, with respect to said common hinge axis, being parallel with said adjacent leg members of said intermediate section and said lower supporting section and having a portion of said legs lying within a portion ofsaid legs of said intermediate section of said mast when in extended position, the legs of said lower supporting section nearest said common hinge axis sloping downwardly and outwardly to join the respective adjacent legs that are most remote from said common hinge axis.

2. A vehicle mounted drilling rig structure, the frame of which vehicle forms a base; comprising upright supports mounted on each side of said base near the rear end thereof, an axle mounted transversely of said base on the upper ends of said upright supports, an upright, lower supporting mast section, the upper end of which is substantially rectangular in cross section, the inner side of said upright, lower supporting mast section being pivotally mounted on said transverse axle, at least one upper mast section, which is substantially rectangular in cross section, mounted on said transverse axle in complementary relation to said upright, lower supporting mast section when said upper mast section is in upright position, said upper mast section being adapted to be moved from the horizontal position to the upright position, said upper mast section having an inner pair and an outer pair of upright leg members, one of which leg members is mounted on each corner thereof, which legs are parallel, said upright, lower supporting mast section having an upright, outer pair of leg members, each of which leg members of said outer pair is adapted to be substantially in end to end, aligned, abutting relation with the respective legs of the outer pair or parallel leg members of said upper mast section when said upper mast section is in upright position; the respective legs of the inner pair of legs of said upright, lower supporting mast section extending from the lower inner ends of the respective legs of said inner pair of legs of said upper mast section downwardly and outwardly at an angle to join with the respective outer legs of the upright, lower supporting mast section at a point adjacent the lower end of said upright, lower supporting section.

3. A structure as defined in claim 2, wherein guying 15 2,

means extend from the upper portion of said mast to said base formed by the frame of said vehicle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,997,847 Bagel et a1 Apr. 16, 1935 2,176,731 Claire Oct. 17, 1939 2,210,407 Henry Aug. 6, 1940 2,300,763 Athy Nov. 3, 1942 2,344,383 Alexander et a1. Mar. 14, 1944 2,503,604 Woolslayer et a1. Apr. 11, 1950 2,660,268 Selberg Nov. 24, 1953 2,671,537 Moon Mar. 9, 1954 McLerran Oct. 8, 1957 

